Soul Surfer's Journey.
Prologue
I have been living in this foreign country for more than 20 years since I had left Japan.
I remember when I just started surfing in my homeland. I used to read many surfing magazines and watched many surfing videos. Because I wanted to know more about surfing, which had alwa
ys caught my eye and never left my mind.
Some articles were very impressive. For example, the article of Gerry Lopez’s surfing trip to G-Land of Indonesia, or the piece on ultimate cut back at Nias Island, the set of the film Storm Riders, written by Thornton Falender. I started to dream. I also wanted to go on one of these surfing trips to the southern islands some day, and I wanted to surf the ultimate waves of the most remote points, alone. I think all surfers have this kind of dream.
After 35 years of my surfing journey, I had finally discovered my own final destination of ultimate surfing, and I have had the greatest surfing life. More than I had ever dreamed of at a young age.
Now, I want the public to take notice, and to spread my new philosophies of life, in the form of South Winds as Soul Surfer's Journey.
Surfing, me, and The Philippines.
After 35 years of my surfing journey I discovered my final destination, the Philippines.
I used to live in California and Hawaii and I often surfed their great points. The likes of Steamer lane, Rincon, Malibu, Point Dume, etc. But now, I am not driven to surf at those spots anymore because I have better surfing circumstances here in the Philippines. Surfing here is very relaxing because there are not so much people. Plus, Filipino surfers are very friendly and not aggressive. The water is warm and there is no need to wear wetsuits. Best of all, the waves are nicer than those points in California. Can you believe that we have nicer waves than Rincon? We call this point the 1 kilometer point. The wave has a better shape and is longer than Rincon, and I have never seen it close out in this point.
Yes, Hawaii has warm waters and good waves too but it is not the place to surf in a relaxing manner anymore as many of you surfers now know.
For these reasons, I now only surf in the Philippines and I find contentment in that.
I have been living here in Philippines for over 20 years.
My dream 35 years ago has become real. I surf at many points here and I also got involved with the surfing scene in the Philippines: Local surfers, government people, surf industries, events, etc.
I was the first man to put up a surfing school in the Philippines, Yokohama Surfing School (YSS). I was also the first one to put up a surf shop, Yokohama Surfing Café.
We started the La Union Long board contests. At the first event, only 10 surfers joined and now this event has become very big and there are more than 200 participants every year coming from everywhere across the globe.
I was one of the pioneers of surfing here in the Philippines.
I was able to experience so many exciting things and pleasures as a pioneer. Some have called me a Surfing Guru.
I also went through a lot of sorrow and disappointment.
The struggles I encountered made me lose my passion for the surfing business and the surfing community. Then I made the decision to forget about those struggles and go back to soul surfing – no more events, no more contests, no more surfing businesses, just surfing for myself as a soul surfer.
And the Philippines is the best place for that.
I love surfing alone and it is not difficult here. The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and there are so many surf spots. To my surprise, I have found 4 new surf spots since last year, even though I though I already knew of all the surf spots around the country.
The potential of surfing in the Philippines is really amazing.
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